Downtown Miami - April Update

Downtown Miami is still in the midst of an up-and-down economic rollercoaster ride. As of April 30 the corporate offices of Macy's shutter and 600+ lunch eaters get their pink slips, local restos will feel the pain.

In the mean time,

Giordano's Salad Shop is thriving across Flagler Street from the Gusman box office,

Ceviche 105 attracts a very money crowd,

NY Bagel Deli is slated to open next door to Giordano's at the Dupont Building,

you can almost get a table in under 5 minutes at Fratelli Milano on First (and watch the Miami Ink doodle pad boys drink coffee and chain smoke next door),

the PizzaTeca "pizza disco" is opened across 1st street with FULL BAR & an odd door policy attitude (seriously WTF!?),

Pe Peroni Italian is struggling to life on Flagler @ Seybold,

Tre - a pizza concept spot from the La Loggia group - will open on Flagler across from Marshall's,

(note to restaurateurs - E N O U G H Italian)

Starbucks at the BoA closed,

Thai Angel in the dirty corridor where Habibi Grill still thrives is a fun new option,

Thai Churros is struggling/drowning under the weight of the MNT positive review,

likewise the tragic Spaghetti in a Box takeout spot next to La Loggia founders,

Jimmy John's has a VERY loyal following of Atkins/SoBe dieters eating hoagie lettuce wraps while Mario the Baker sells out their garlic rolls daily just next door: "To carb or not to carb - that is the question...,"

and - best news of the day - Manny's has a FREE OYSTER HAPPY HOUR 4-7pm Fridays.

AG, you're the BEST!!! Seriously, you take the words right out of my mouth (and do a much better job of it). You're spot on about the Italian thing. How many days a week can you eat pasta for lunch? Giordono's is a happy addition. Last week while eating at Fratelli Milano we thought we'd try PizzaTeca, but with your comment, maybe we'll pass. There's enough nice people trying to make it downtown, that we don't have to support the others. PePeroni on our one-time visit was awful. The food they brought out didn't come close to the menu descriptions. The manager (owner?) apologized and basically told us the chef does his own thing. I still can't figure out what that means exactly. Two other people we know sitting next to us never got their salads and finally left after 30 minutes. I agree with Thai Angel - decent Thai and the people are very nice, too. Went to the spaghetti in a box place once. That was more than enough. It's kind of scary how empty some places are on certain days. We'll have to wait and see what the impact is of the Macy's people leaving. It's tough trying to support all our local haunts, but we're going to have to fight the good fight! And thanks for the heads up on Manny's. The only thing better than fresh oysters are FREE fresh oysters. Maybe we'll see you there!

The BEST part of PePeroni is the waitresses gyrating on the sidewalk like drunken harem ladies trying to woo diners - like the sparkly Ocean Drive hucksters. PASS!

d barnard>

YES! The entirely unofficial CHOW meetup is at Manny's Steakhouse where - it is written - the oysters are free from 4-7pm... I think we could BANKRUPT them if we all eat fast enough.

dmo>

Giardinos is across from the Gusman box office and I hear the one on 14th and Alton is struggling so they are offering a buy 1 get 1 free deal now. I will check to see if that opportunity extends to the whole chain... I love me some free stuff!

AG, you're up first for this one - I'm catching an early flight this a.m. for NC and won't be back until the 16th. I was hoping to get a little spring and instead it looks like I'm going to get a lot of winter. Let us know how it is (and keep up the good work!)

The happy hour at Manny's was as good as advertised! Drinks are also half-priced, and there's a nice view of the river from the outdoor bar. A guy comes out of the kitchen at fairly regular intervals with a cart full of plates of 6 oysters. Nice cocktail sauce, too. I only ate 2 1/2 dozen!

I do appreciate how hard you work shepherding FlaChow and your great new blog, but you're going to have to tolerate the fact that sometimes places you like are just not popular.

To be clear - I didn't say Andu is bad - it's just DEAD.

As an after work destination or a dinnertime hangout, it's not busy. And honesty MANY places Downtown are DEAD. We went to a FABULOUS party at the Ikon/Viceroy on Brickell where the food was lovely and there were few HUMAN BEINGS around not in hotel uniforms. Likewise EPIC and Manny's and lots of really lovely spots worth a looksee are doing ZERO business.

It's a buyer's market and they are apparently not buying. Summer is coming and unless they ALL plan to book Regis and Kelly - it's going to be a sad soggy season.

I'm not fretting. I wasn't commenting on how busy the place was, only about the food. Some places are slow because there's no good reason to go there. But there are plenty of places these days that have good eats but are slow just b/c people aren't spending money, or they've got a difficult location, etc.

AG,Speaking of "slow" - we had lunch today at Fresh Cafe and they're offering a buy one meal/get one half price. Also, Granny's has lowered almost every item on their menu, so at least now we can get mediocre at best food for less $$$!!!

there's a place next to Tobacco Road, by Mary Brickell Village, called Indochine and they have good sushi! It's a tiny place, but worthy of a few rolls and such. River Oyster Bar next door is truly the best in that area for oysters, seafood, etc .